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mike: i cannot write will letters or he's going to think i am in love with him

dustin, in the middle of writing will a letter: why would he think that

mike: because i am going to tell him i'm in love with him

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Im good at being strange and ignored

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people without any whimsy scare me. why are you like that. where are your trinkets.

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“you can’t leave it’s raining” gotta be one of THE MOST romantic lines ive ever heard but anyway

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tgr spoilers

jeandrew tether oh my god

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now that we're all talking about a hypothetical aftg adaption let me pitch to you sudden pov change to andrew in the first episode of the second season where the mystery of neil josten is narrated all black and white like an 80s detective drama

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yosef (@yosef-gaza112 @yosef-gaza99 and other blogs) has told me he needs money URGENTLY to pay for his mother's surgery TOMORROW (28 december). his chuffed campaign is at $1350; ideally we could get him to at least $2000 by tomorrow afternoon in order to 1) pay for the surgery and 2) support his mother as she recovers. this campaign also supports yosef's family of 12, including children. please donate if you can!

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everyday i think about andreil with those stupid rooftop scenes and some jock a floor below just trying to go to sleep without hearing intense shakespeare level one liners every other second

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do you think andrew and aaron can swing their legs while sitting on a normally sized chair

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anyway. i love you will byers who is more sensitive than than the other boys his age. i love you will byers who receives a 120-count box of crayons for his eighth birthday and uses every color to draw a rainbow spaceship. i love you will byers who gives away a toy he knows his mother can’t replace because a girl is sad and crying and he thinks she should have it instead. i love you will byers who comes face to face with a creature directly out of his literal nightmares and speaks softly and refuses to hurt it. i love you will byers who is willing to sacrifice himself if that means his friends and family and the town that hates him is safe. i love you will byers who just wants to play dungeons & dragons and cling to the last pieces of childhood that were forcibly taken from him. i love you will byers who cries with his sister when she is sad and tells her they’ll fix it. i love you will byers who repackages his own love confession into the exact thing his best friend needs to hear. i love you will byers who is reunited with his sister and the first thing he does after holding her close is try to remove the collar from around her neck. i love you will byers who is not violent but would kill vecna in a heartbeat to protect the people he loves. i love you will byers.

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Mike and Will x Mike and El on Giving and Taking

Ok, so I want to preface this by saying anthropology is not my wheelhouse. I understand enough about the subject because my dad has a P.hD on Anthropology and has been teaching me it since I was old enough to understand it, but I'm by no means well versed enough on the subject.

Second point, this is not meant to be read as conclusive evidence on anything, it is merely an interpretation of what has been provided by the show and therefore something I decided to take the liberty of analyzing from the lens of something I'm familiar with but that again, is not what I graduated and specialized on.

If you're not interested in reading it, I'd suggest you skip because it might get a little bit deep and some words will be used that I will explain so they make sense.

This is not a necessary read per se, is more like an interesting one.

Firstly, I want to start by introducing Marcel Mauss – one of the most important names in Anthropology and the person that inspired some of Levi Strauss' most important work.

Marcel Mauss developed what we call the theory of reciprocity or the theory of giving.

Said theory was based on the observational studies he did on native cultures where he noticed how indigenous tribes would often exchange things of no value with one another - for example bones or stones -. And he started a process of trying to comprehend why they were behaving in such a way, especially because what was being given had no actual value as we understand as a society.

After studying multiple indigenous tribes, he realized the true value lied within the act of giving and he postulated that the reason they would do so was because these cultures believed that by giving someone something - whether it wa s bone, or a stone or an artifact - it was implied that a part of their souls was being given as well.

The inherent value was in the act of giving, but that value couldn't exist on itself. Mauss also established that what has been giving, must be returned - reciprocity. Many cultures believe if they get something, another thing must be given in return as a way of saying a part of their own soul was given as well.

He believed that gifts are asynchronous - meaning there's a time period between given them and receiving something in return - and in kind - meaning that they aren't measured in monetary terms.

So the gifts you get and you give back during holiday season? That's the reason why. The more you know.

But why I am talking about this, you may ask?

For this reason.

This is the monologue Mike shares with Will:

"It was the first day of kindergarten.

I knew nobody, I had no friends – and I just felt so alone and so scared. But I saw you on the swings and you were alone too.

And I just walked up to you and I asked –. I asked it if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes.

You said yes.

It was the best thing I ever done".

Now, when we talk about this scene is important to note a few things. Mauss' theory wasn't limited to objects, but rather to bonds.

So Mike asked Will to be his friend (he offered him something, a literal chance to form a bond), and Will had the chance of saying no - to deny this attempt of forming that bond and therefore to deny a part of Mike's soul - and yet he said yes (he accepted the offer and in turn gave him something back, his friendship). From that moment on, something sacred was forged.

When Mike tells Will that, he is also offering again a part of himself. A knowledge he has kept hiden up until that point, an information he presents as new and doesn't expect anyone return, but gets a hand being tapped against wood.

When Will presents Mike with the painting, he claims it belongs to El.

So here, we are working with a physical representation- with an actual gift -, that was always meant to be Will's but that he'd later assign to El.

But the thing about Mauss' theory applied to this scenario. Firstly, El isn't there, she's not the one giving that proclamation nor was the one who actually feels those things.

The painting isn't her, the words aren't hers, she didn't commission.

So yet again, is not a part of El's soul Mike possesses, but rather a part of Will's. He tried to assign it to El, but that's not how it works. There's a transactional aspect to this, the symbol of giving can only represent is true meaning if it comes from the person who is actually giving them.

So had she commissioned, had she actually said those words, had she given the painting herself, that's a part of her Mike will always get to keep – something sacred and that is just her. But those weren't her words, nor was the painting hers as well.

If Mike truly believes they came from her - especially after what Will says when El was choking -, what he has holds no meaning if he assumes it comes from Eleven. Because what he assumes doesn't matter, what is the truth does.

But more importantly than that, Mike has absolutely nothing of El's. There's a clear distinction between the walls covered with Will's art, the binder full of his drawings, and Mike having absolutely nothing of hers.

We can't know for sure why, but Mike seems to make no effort into keeping parts of El soul with him, seems to make no effort in exchanging with her - his words of love and everything else.

Why is Will's art - parts his soul - the things that he keeps and why can't he seem to be able to do the same with El when he supposedly loves her so much?

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[after we both undress] hang on uh.. let me *opens wikihow page on how to have sex*

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Leave it to Kevin to be a total jerk while simultaneously being an actual sweetheart

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ALL FOR THE GAME

40-100k

hold me close, in fact bury me by djhedy

T / 47k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

ghost story by petalloso

T / 42k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Fear No Fall by vicariously kingly (pelted) (Series)

E / 81k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Pink Cloud Summer by jingerhead

M / 56k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

3x+1 by Chalilodimun (Incomplete)

E / 71k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

A Different Matter by djhedy, moonix

E / 59k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

We Can Live Forever by mostly_maudlin

T / 47k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Dear Advice Guy by fuzzballsheltiepants

M / 60k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

It's Just You and Me, Just Us, and Y(our) Friend Kevin by Justthislazy

M / 74k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Paw and Order by exy_shmexy

E / 50k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Trust Fall (And Welcoming Arms) by SpangleBangle

E / 85k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

The Later Parade by hourafterhour

M / 41k / Kevin Day/Jean Moreau

Marrow Without Bone by exyfexyfoxes

M / 79k / Jeremy Knox/Jean Moreau

Foxhole Tidbits by SpangleBangle (fav: this is not pining)

M / 70k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

a world alone by ephemeralsky

M / 55k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

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ALL FOR THE GAME

20-40k

Not Nothing by TheRainbowElectric

23k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

No straighter path than to struggle by otatop

M / 25k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

honey don't feed me (i will come back) by Talls

T / 32k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

right side of rock bottom by allyasavedtheday

M / 20k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Follow You Through The Dark by sambutwithbooks

22k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Nine Weddings and No Funerals by gluupor

T / 29k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

on thin ice by Stjosten

M / 23k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

not to blame for falling by binarystars04 (Series)

E / 27k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

No Place Like Home by gluupor, moonix

T / 32k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

if you really love nothing by seasy33

M / 40k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Called It Home by jingerhead

M / 26k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

Assumptions by Exyissexy25

M / 22k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

this is how you fall in love. by adamsrcnan

T / 24k / Kevin Day/OC

Trials and Tribulations: Intimacy in five parts by whateveridk

M / 27k / Jeremy Knox/Jean Moreau

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50 Dialogue Prompts

“It’s really not that complicated.”

“Close the door.”

“It’s three in the morning.”

“I should have told you a long time ago.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“You have to leave right now.”

“Just trust me.”

“I’ve been waiting a long time.”

“You’re in love with her.”

“Come here.”

“We could get arrested for this.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“I thought you were dead.”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Was that supposed to hurt?”

“I can explain.”

“Love is overrated.”

“Watch me.”

“I’ve missed this.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Sometimes, being a complete nerd comes in handy.”

“I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“We have to be quiet.”

“You’re trembling.”

“I want an answer, goddammit!”

“It was you the whole time.”

“Tell me again.”

“This is why we can’t have nice things.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“You don’t see me.”

“I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”

“You could have died.”

“Prove it.”

“I might never get another chance to say this.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“Lie to me then.”

“You’ve thought about this, haven’t you?”

“We need to talk about what happened last night.”

“I never stood a chance, did I?”

“I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“I’m only here to establish an alibi.”

“Are you drunk?”

“I still remember the way you taste.”

“How much of that did you hear?”

“What happens if I do this?”

“Why are you whispering?”

“You make me want things I can’t have.”

“I don’t want to screw this up.”

“People are staring.”